THE SHOPPING THREAD :-)

[courton]

Nothing big ...lots of food. Since I live in syd I went to check it and will now decide whether it is worth shelling $60 a yr for membership.

[jakodai]

I've been a member at Costco in Melbourne for about a month now, and I think I've already covered my membership fee in savings. It's great! You just need to know how much you normally pay for things.

[courton]

The only problem is you need a lot of space to store the multiples.

[andiesenji]

I used to shop at Costco but then a Sam's Club opened and offered their own credit card - no membership fee if you spend above a certain amount and if you let the balance run, low interest (I pay mine off every month).  And it has the advantage that I can also use it at Walmart and twice a year they give $50.00 cash cards if you spend a minimum amount (usually 500.00 in a three-month period - not difficult for me.  So it is a much better deal that the Costco membership. 

Except for the first year - when I didn't have it for a full year and was still doing some shopping at Costco, I have not paid the membership fee or any interest and have received several cash cards.  Their gasoline is as cheap as Costco. 

My neighbor tells me the lines to fill up at the gas pumps at Costco are very long because the gas there is quite a bit cheaper than even at the "generic" gas stations.   
We think the price of gas is pretty high but a visitor from Scotland said that our gas was cheap compared to what they pay.

[faffa_70]

we were paying about  $1.52 a litre here last week Andie and that by no means would have been the most expensive in Australia  Not sure how to do the conversions to get it to USD per gallon but I am sure you will somehow knowing you!!! 

[dede]

I am paying $1.61 for premium unleaded here in Tassie.

[medusa]

well I think it is 3.8 litres per Us Gallon so it is approx equivalent to $5.77 (if you are paying $1.52 a litre).  Not sure what you pay in the US per gallon

[andiesenji]

Gas at the Mobil station down the road from me is 4.42/gal for  the lowest grade.  Premium is 5.09.
Diesel is 4.85, which is making it touch on independent truckers - and for the rest of us, really drives up the price of groceries and everything else that is transported by truck.

[faffa_70]

we were paying about  $1.52 a litre here last week Andie and that by no means would have been the most expensive in Australia  Not sure how to do the conversions to get it to USD per gallon but I am sure you will somehow knowing you!!! 

that was just regular unleaded but don't think the premium was that much here Dede - sure hurts the hip pocket when you have big cars!!

[cookie1]

We use diesel and our 4 x 4 takes 100 litres at a time. Makes a dent in the pocket, especially when we are travelling and may fill up twice in a day. It's still fun travelling though.

[andiesenji]

We use diesel and our 4 x 4 takes 100 litres at a time. Makes a dent in the pocket, especially when we are travelling and may fill up twice in a day. It's still fun travelling though.

I got rid of my big motorhome before fuel prices skyrocketed - when I stopped showing dogs on a regular basis - it had a 120 gallon tank and that would take a huge chunk of change nowadays. 
I think diesel was around 70 cents a gallon when I sold it.   Back then diesel was much cheaper than gas - before all the emission controls went into effect and the fuel had to be reprocessed to make it burn cleaner. 

[cookie1]

We've stuck with diesel as it burns cooler than petrol. Great if we are towing the caravan in 40+ degree heat. (like today )

[Cornish Cream]

Here diesel is £1.43 per litre and unleaded petrol £1.37 per litre.

[Frozzie]

In our part of france cost of unleaded ranges from 1.62 to 1.89 euros per litre depending which station you go to and for diesel 1.41 to 1.42 in general with the exception of the odd station especially those on or near motorways who skyrocket their prices but often prices can range on the same day up to 25 cents difference per litre so pays to know where to fill up.. Most people go to the supermarket stations as they are all fairly competitive.. Such as auchan, leclerc, intermarche, carrefour etc.  The cheapet by far is gas but very few people are equipped for gas in their cars..

[dede]

Gee might be cheaper to go back to horse and cart